Our Work | InCommOn

Our Pillars

InCommOn’s approach of addressing urban issues is holistic, emphasises circularity, and is based on the following three pillars:

EQUALITY &
SOCIAL INCLUSION

We are against any form of social exclusion based on age, gender, sexual orientation, race, religious faith, disability, social and economic standing. Non-discrimination is not only a principle reflected in our our hiring process and internal work protocols but we also actively promote equality and social inclusion in the projects that we organize for, and, alongside the communities that we work with.

ACTIVE COMMUNITIES

Addressing complex and challenging urban crises does not only depend on the state or private companies but requires active citizens who will bring attention to their neighborhoods’ problems, mobilize people and resources, and campaign for change. Lack of engagement with the commons renders any urban problem more acute and we therefore make a point to promote active citizenship in our projects.

ENVIRONMENTAL
REGENERATION

Global urban growth has led to the accumulation of tremendous amounts of waste and pollution and to an ever-growing number of premature deaths, poverty, serious environmental disruption, and overall poor quality of life. Our goal is to tackle environmental degradation, achieve greener and cleaner natural surroundings, and make more livable the urban environment οf the communities that we work in.

Projects

Kyklos

Urban Sustainability & Circularity Lab: Since March of 2019, USuCi, Filoxenia and FoodTreasure have been operating this participatory project which aims to engage communities and urge them to generate new initiatives towards urban development through the vehicle of circular economy.

See more

It is also a place for other projects and initiatives to be generated, for the community to engage in co-education and the co-creation of urban solutions, for ecological development and to be a reference point for the neighborhood to meet and collaborate.

Kafsimo

Since 2019, FoodTreasure and USuCi have been running a community-based project which focuses on recycling coffee waste into clean biofuel.

See more

The goal is to standardise this innovative model so as to be adapted to any geographical area and organic waste stream People from vulnerable backgrounds receive adequate training to run the project, contributing to their employability. The project aims to be partially self-funded through the sale of biofuel and any income generated will help to support social housing for vulnerable groups on a long-term basis.
It is part of a wider multicircular economy system that involves exchanging used coffee grounds from local cafés with “staramakia” (natural wheat straws)to replace plastic straws. In this way we can maximise the community participation and awareness on both the issues of organic waste over-production and the over-consumption of single use plastics.

Circular Economy Venture

Showcase project through which issues such as food costs, food waste, use of fossil fuels, the need for a green economy and the economic viability of an environmentally sustainable business will be discussed, publicised and addressed.

Educational Competitions 2019-2020

Making a circular economy: Student competition, approved by the Ministry of Education, which is carried out by USuCi working group. Students are asked to submit a description of a Circular Economy plan that could be implemented on the school premises. The competition was implemented for the first time in the school year 2019-2020 and our goal is to continue in the coming years.

See more

Waste Less-Treasure More: Student competition, approved by the Ministry of Education, which is carried out by the USuCi and the FoodTreasure working groups. Students are invited to submit collective work related to the presentation of the existing situation of food waste and proposed solutions to reduce and utilise their residue. The competition was implemented for the first time in the school year 2019-2020 and our goal is to continue in the coming years.

Cultivating the ‘Urban Shell’

FoodTreasure conducts practical research on the possibilities of easily replicable composting techniques (for small gardens, balconies, municipalities etc) in urban and peri-urban meditereanean settings.

Eco-Friendly Supported Housing Project

Filoxenia and FoodTreasure provided social housing for refugees and homeless people in Evosmos, Thessaloniki, during the years 2016-2018.

See more

The project was based on the model of co-habitation, which involved participatory planning, inclusive decision-making and co-implementation of ideas and plans, combining an eco-friendly perspective with the minimal carbon footprint, utilising waste management systems and promoting environmental education activities.

Social Hub @ Evosmos. Inclusion, Environment, Empowerment

During the years 2017 and 2018, Filoxenia operated a Community Centre in Evosmos, Thessaloniki, with educational, cultural and environmental activities for all ages, designed and implemented by and for the users of the center.

Landscape

In 2017, Filoxenia organized and carried out Mobile Daily Actions to raise awareness and inform citizens of Northern Greece about immigration due to economic, political and environmental factors.